Loan shark training for children as young as five as education packs are rolled out to primary and secondary schools

Children as young as five are being warned about the dangers of falling prey to loan sharks when they grow up.

From next month youngsters will be given lessons in money management designed to keep them out of the clutches of illegal money lenders, who sometimes use intimidation and violence on their victims.

It reflects the alarming scale of the problem, with desperate borrowers handing over £700million a year to unregulated lenders who demand rip-off rates of interest.

Tony Quigley, head of the England Illegal Money Lending Team which was set up to track down loan sharks and help their victims, said: “We are trying to educate the next generation. If we can stop one person using a loan shark it’s been a success.”

Around 1,000 teachers across the UK have already applied for the Stop Loan Sharks education packs. Primary school pupils will be taught about the way money is lent and borrowed and how to keep their possessions safe.

The secondary school lessons will focus on shopping around to get the best credit deals and why loan sharks should be avoided at all costs.

The scheme, to be launched next week at a school in Hillingdon, West London, is being funded from the assets of illegal lenders seized by the courts through proceeds of crime laws.

Mr Quigley, whose team gets around 60 complaints a month, said: “It really is hideous what some loan sharks do to a community. It is just exploitation and profiteering of the worst kind.

“Through schemes like this we aim to teach children from an early age to avoid these criminals.”